The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security says it has established counselling hotlines and support hubs across several regions as part of an expanded programme of psychological assistance for survivors and families affected by the MV Barima tragedy.
Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud, in a video posted on her Facebook page, said ministry officers had been working in Regions One and Two since the Sunday following the disaster and had since expanded their intervention to other regions.
According to Persaud, the services include trauma-focused counselling, grief therapy and other forms of psychosocial support.
“We have expanded our direct support to families and survivors,” she said, explaining that social workers have been conducting home visits and travelling into communities to meet those requiring assistance.
The ministry has also introduced toll-free hotlines through which persons can call or send messages between 8 am and 10 pm. Persaud stressed that the services were available not only to survivors and bereaved families but to anyone emotionally affected by the tragedy.
“This is for anyone who needs comfort and support,” she said.
Counselling and therapy hubs have also been opened in several regions. Persaud said the locations and telephone numbers were available on the ministry’s social media page.
In addition to counselling, the ministry has been assisting families with visits to hospitals, access to medication and the needs of affected children.
“We’ve been working around the clock and that continues,” the minister said. “There’s a lot of grief, a lot of anger, a lot of emotions, a lot of devastation. This is not easy. This is very difficult for everybody.”
Persaud said additional services were being coordinated, including online sessions involving psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health specialists and grief therapists. Assistance is also expected from international organisations and Guyanese professionals in the diaspora.
On the ground, she said, the response involves social workers trained in trauma and grief counselling, along with psychologists from the Human Services and Health ministries. The Ministry of Education has also been providing support.
Persaud encouraged anyone requiring assistance to make contact with the ministry, saying that its officers would remain engaged with persons after the initial approach.
“I’m so sorry that any family, anybody has to go through this, wherever they are,” she said. “It is a time for us to be together around all of these persons, around each other, and be kind.”
She urged the public to support survivors and those grieving the loss of relatives and to keep them in their prayers.
In an introduction accompanying a separate video, the ministry said senior officers had been coordinating direct counselling and other assistance in homes and communities over the past week and a half.
It said social workers had accompanied persons to hospitals and to identify the bodies of relatives, while also working with affected children and adults. According to the ministry, some officers had remained in the affected regions and had not returned to their own families because of the continuing work.
Persaud expressed gratitude to the social workers for what she described as their selfless service and care for affected families.
Meanwhile, a ministry social worker stationed at Port Kaituma said her team had been operating there since July 19 and was providing psychological first aid, grief and bereavement counselling, family support and individual counselling.
“Grief is a process, hence our approach to this situation is also done via a process,” she said.
Of 26 survivors counted at Port Kaituma, the social worker said, 23 had so far received support from the ministry. Fourteen families representing 27 of the 30 deceased persons counted there had also been assisted.
The figures cited by the social worker relate to the ministry’s work in Port Kaituma and do not represent the national totals from the disaster.
She said officers were using the ministry’s rapid-response psychosocial assessment tool to identify immediate needs, evaluate the emotional condition of individuals and families and determine whether they faced any additional risks.
The assessments are also being used to determine the appropriate services and referrals required in each case.
“Our focus is on ensuring that individuals and families feel heard, that they’re supported and that they’re provided with the necessary services that they need during this extremely difficult time,” she said.
The social worker added that the intervention would continue and that the range of services would be increased as affected persons moved through the different stages of grief.
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